Llamas and alpacas are kept for fibre, as pack animals, and increasingly as therapy and companion animals. Their welfare in these different contexts presents distinct challenges.
Camelid welfare is strongly shaped by human management decisions. Alpacas that are handled gently from birth show dramatically lower fear responses and better welfare during necessary procedures including shearing. Rough shearing methods cause acute distress in animals that are otherwise calm. Social housing is important — camelids are herd animals that show distress in isolation. The growing use of llamas and alpacas as therapy animals raises questions about the welfare of individual animals in therapeutic settings including stress from unfamiliar environments and people. Ensuring therapy animals are handled with the same welfare consideration as any other managed animal is important.